Renjith clinches berth

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One son-in-law from Chennai dominated the national headlines for all the wrong reasons in recent times. On the last day of the Inter-State athletic championships here on Friday, however, another son-inlaw made Tamil Nadu proud by winning the triple jump gold with a meet record of 16.98 metres.You can bet on Renjith Maheshwary to provide drama and he didn’t disappoint with a superb effort in his third jump. Renjith, a Kerala native, has been representing Tamil Nadu after his marriage to Chennai pole vault champion V.S. Surekha. He provided the final flourish to the four-day event in front of his wife and two-year-old daughter. Renjith also qualified for August’s World Championship in Moscow (the ‘B’ qualification mark is 16.85m).Barring the feat of the triple jumper, it was a humdrum day. Kerala’s Kunhu Mohammed provided some late entertainment to the crowd —agony for his team-mates —by dropping the baton a couple of metres before the 400m relay finish, gifting the gold to Jharkhand.Kerala won the overall championship with 172.5 points ahead of Tamil Nadu (147.5). The hosts edged out Haryana 79-63.5 for the men's crown while the Kerala women finished on top with 112.5 points, way ahead of TN's 68.5.Renjith and steeplechase champion Sudha Singh, who set the only national record of the event, were declared the best athletes of the meet.
Results: Men: Triple jump: 1. Renjith Maheshwary (TN, 16.98m), 2. Arpinder Singh (Pun) 3. Md. Salahuddin (TN). Discus: 1. Arjun (Del, 53.99m), 2. Vikas Poonia (Raj), 3. Baljinder Singh (Pun). 400m hurdles: 1. Satinder Singh (Pun, 51. 55s), 2. Jithin Paul (Jhar), 3. Ramachandren (Mah). 200 m: 1. Pratiek Ninawe (Mah, 21.65s), 2. Ritesh Anand (Jhar), 3. Amiya Kumar (Ori). 1500m: 1. Sandeep (Har, 3:57.50s), 2. Pranjal Gogoi (Ass), 3. Sajeesh Joseph (Ker). 4x400: 1. Jharkhand (3:11.03), 2. TN, 3. J &K; Women: 10,000m: 1. Preeja Sreedharan (Ker, 34:38.28s), 2. L. Suriya (TN), 3. Monica (Mah). 1500m: 1. O.P. Jaisha (Pun), 2. Sinimol Markose (Kar) 3. Jhuma Khatoon (Jhar). 200m: 1. Asha Roy (WB, 23.59s), 2. Dutee Chand (Ori), 3. Srabani Nanda (Ori). 400m hurdles: 1. R. Elavarasi (TN, 1:00.70s), 2. R. Anu (Ker), 3. Papathi (TN) Heptathlon: 1. Sushmita (WB, 5164 pts), 2. Navpreet Kaur (Pun), 3. Liksy Joseph (Ker) 4x400: 1. Kerala (3: 40.74s), 2. Haryana, 3. TN.